Lockheed, Lemon Leaf feed Valley
Companies team up to hand out meals for those in need
PALMDALE — Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, best known for its top secret development of cutting edge stealth fighter aircraft, partnered with Lemon Leaf Café to provide meals for the needy in the community.
The company traditionally hosts holiday lunches for its employees. Due to the pandemic and ongoing state health guidelines barring large in-person gatherings, Lockheed Martin instead redirected holiday lunch funding and paired up with Lemon Leaf to deliver meals.
“Because of the pandemic, we knew that bringing employees together for large social events was not safe,” Community Relations Representative Claudia Clark said. This initiative was a better and safer way to support the communities where
we live and work,”
Lemon Leaf Café has already begun delivering the meals and is anticipated to do so through mid-December.
“We’re so grateful to them for hiring us. We also have a relationship with Grace Resources because of what we do,” Maria Elena Grado, owner of The Lemon Leaf Cafe,
adding they can also help Valley
Oasis.
“Lockheed has such an amazing community and cares so much about our community, and trying to order from all the restaurants in town and keeping everybody supported, so we’re super-grateful,” Grado said.
Lockheed Martin did not pro
vide a cost estimate of the donated lunches but will fund approximately 250,000 of them across its Aeronautics locations in Palmdale, Fort Worth, Texas and Marietta, Ga.
In addition to lunches, the company has provided several grants geared to help local organizations
during this holiday season, including Operation Homefront, Wreaths Across America and LA County Department of Children and Family Services.
Nearly 4,000 people work for Lockheed Martin in Palmdale. At the site, most employees continue to come into the facility to support critical missions and programs for their military customers.
The Skunk Works team hopes these meals make a difference for their friends and neighbors.